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Qwaqwa student Jabulani Mabuza – a master of his time

11 August 2022 | Story NONSINDISO QWABE | Photo SUPPLIED

At a time when it is becoming fashionable for high-tech smartwatches and fitness gadgets to adorn your wrist, there will always be room for a classic timepiece. Wristwatches in particular tell a different story to people of all social classes, and for Qwaqwa student Jabulani Mabuza, the process of making different watches to suit different tastes is what excites him the most.

Mabuza is in his final year of a BCom General Management degree. In January 2020, he acted on his curiosity about the process of assembling a watch, and subsequently registered his watch business, Honour Watches, in January 2021.

Since then, he has steadily honed his craft, learning more about the art of watches. He recently made it through to the central regional rounds of the Entrepreneurship Development in Higher Education (EDHE) competition in the Existing Businesses category for studentpreneurs.

On the pursuit of mastering the art of watchmaking

Horology is the study and measurement of time. It is the process of allowing yourself the time and patience required to master the art of building a watch from scratch, and Mabuza said he enjoyed the intricacies of the watchmaking process. “What I enjoy about horology is learning the deeper technicalities of the art, the whole process – from understanding basic astronomy and how planets move in our solar system, to sort of emulating that in a watch mechanism. The working of metals transformed into watch components that actually tell time, is what I enjoy most and what I am investing in so that I can master it one day,” he said.

As a BCom student, he said his studies have largely influenced his business journey, as it helps him understand the structure of his business professionally. “It assists me with the business administration and management of Honour, and the rest is inspired by my creativity and passion for what time means to human beings.”

Mabuza said South Africa does not have a watchmaking plant as yet, so all the components for his watches are currently imported from Japan and Switzerland. He hopes to one day have his own production plant that will produce watches from scratch, in order to teach more people this skill and to create jobs, for which there is always a need. Currently, he studies the watch components to learn which movement best complements which type of hand and casing, in order to assemble them according to the designs he likes.

“I enjoy the pursuit of creating a mechanical auto-magnetic watch for international travellers that will automatically adjust to different time zones as they travel. These horological pursuits are what I enjoy the most, believe in, and am passionate about.”

The regional rounds will be held on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus from 19 to 23 September 2022.

News Archive

Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings

2007-06-29

Trafficking in Human Beings:
National and International Perspectives

Date: 17th August 2007
Address: CR Swart Auditorium, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa.

Every year thousands of children and adults become victims of trafficking and abuse in South Africa and throughout the southern African region. Victims are trafficked for a myriad of reasons: sexual exploitation, including prostitution and pornography; illegal labour, including child conscription; domestic servitude; illegal adoptions; body parts/organs; and forced marriages.

The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department of Criminal and Medical Law, University of the Free State (UFS), together with the Centre for Continuing Legal Education at UFS, will host a Regional Conference on Trafficking in Human Beings. The conference will bring together key role-players from the South African government as well as crucial international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the region.

Trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, is a serious violation of the human rights of the victims, as well as an extremely profitable source of income to organized crime, and needs the attention and intervention of both governmental and non-governmental institutions in South Africa.

Speakers will include representatives from the United National Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), the South African Law Reform Commission, the Unit for Children’s Rights-UFS, and NGOs Molo Songololo and Terre Des Homes, that work with child trafficking victims in South Africa and around the world.

The media are invited to report on the conference, and interview speakers and presenters Attached find programme. For more info contact the following persons.

1. Beatri Kruger - 051 401 2108 / email: krugerh.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
2. Susan Kreston - 051 401 9562 / email: krestons.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za
3. Elizabeth Snyman – 051 401 2268 / email: snymane.rd@mail.ufs.ac.za

Programme

Trafficking in human beings:
National & international perspectives

Presented by The Unit for Children’s Rights, Department Of Criminal & Medical Law , Faculty of Law, in Conjunction with The Centre for Continuing Legal Education, University of the Free State.

Funded through the Generosity of the United States Department of State

17 AUGUST, 2007 – CR SWART AUDITORIAM

8:00-8:30 Registration & Tea
8:30-8:45 Opening & Welcome
Prof. JJ Henning, Faculty of Law
8:45-9:40 Overview & Global Perspective
Prof. Susan Kreston - Unit for Children’s Rights, Faculty of Law-UFS

9:40-10:00 TEA

10:00-10:45 International Perspectives & the Role of Organized Crime in Trafficking
Wiesje Zikkenheiner, Associate Expert
United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime, Pretoria
10:45-11:45 Identifying and Assisting Victims of Trafficking
Marija Nikolovska, Project Officer
International Organization for Migration, Pretoria

11:45-12:30 LUNCH

12:30-1:15 Prosecuting Trafficking Without Trafficking Laws
Adv. Nolwandle Qaba, Sexual Offences & Community Affairs Unit
National Prosecuting Authority, Pretoria
1:15-2:15 Recommendations for New Legislation in South Africa
Lowesa Stuurman - South African Law Reform Commission, Pretoria

2:15-2:30 TEA

2:30-2:50 The Role of Terre Des Homes in Fighting Trafficking in Children
Judith Mthombeni– Terre Des Homes, Pretoria
2:50-3:50 Trafficking in Children in South Africa – A Front Line Perspective
Patrick Solomon - Molo Songololo, Cape Town
3:50-4:00 Closing Remarks
Adv. Beatri Kruger
Department of Criminal & Medical Law - UFS

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